The Brass Tacks

RRSP Contribution Deadline Approaches

February 29 is the deadline for making a contribution to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) that can be deducted on your 2007 Canadian income tax return. You can use an RRSP to save for retirement, education, or the purchase of a home. Your RRSP Deduction Limit is shown on your Notice of Assessment for 2006, and can also be obtained by logging into CRA's My Account service, or by contacting your income tax preparer.

It's Good to Save Money: Here's Why!

We all know that wasting money on unnecessary things is bad for cash flow, but few stop to consider that there is also a negative effect on net worth.

I had a three year contract with my cell phone provider that recently expired, so I canceled the service, saving an average of $35/month. I hardly ever used the phone and don't miss it at all.

Eliminating an unnecessary expense does the same thing to your bottom line that increasing income does–there is more cash available–but with one major difference: reducing expenses doesn't take any time. To increase income you generally have to work longer hours. Cutting expenses produces the same results with no effort. So, in essence, when I slashed my cell phone bill I created $35/month of “passive income” for myself.

Passive income is income that doesn't use up time to produce. Interest, dividends and royalty payments are examples of passive income. Passive income is generally produced when you invest in an asset such as a stock, mutual fund, Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC), or real estate.

If I “created” $35/month of passive income, what is the equivalent amount of an asset that would pay me that much money? Well, where I live at this time a typical GIC rate is 4%. $35/month = $420/year. How much would I need in a GIC to produce $420 at 4%? $10,500! I therefore conclude that, in essence, I have increased my net worth by $10,500 with one measly phone call. Astounding!

What other expenses can I cut? I think tomorrow I'll pack a lunch to work!

Income Tax Book Store Online

We have a book store online featuring American and Canadian tax books that we use for reference in our income tax preparation. Visit the new Howland Tax Services Book Store today!

Losing Weight for Geeks and Nerds

When my weight reached 199 lbs I had to do something–I couldn't let it get to 200! I may not be a true nerd (my wife thinks I am), but I found that The Hacker's Diet has helped me to lose 26 lbs since I started on it last October.

When I graduated from university I weighed 155 lbs. Since then extra pounds have steadily accumulated, despite my trying all the fad diets out there (low-fat, low-carb, high-protein, you name it!). I couldn't stay on any of them, but I find The Hacker's Diet easy to stay on because I can eat anything I want, as long as I count the calories. Breakfast this morning was a fried egg, two slices of Canadian back bacon, and a toasted whole-wheat English muffin with butter, peanut butter, and jam. Yum! Total calories: 370.

The Hacker's Diet is a calorie counting diet, and the author (John Walker) provides useful computer tools to help out with what is usually a tedious chore. I think Hacker's is quite similar to Weight Watchers, which at its core is also a calorie counting diet with tools (the "point" system, social support, etc.).

The Hacker's Diet proposes that to lose weight all you have to do is eat fewer calories than you burn, however, the body has a certain resistance to weight loss, and it needs to be kick-started into fat-burning mode with a deficit of at least 500 calories/day, which should lead to weight loss of roughly one pound/week.

How do you know how many calories you are eating? You have to weigh and measure your food, and read the labels. It sounds hard but is actually quite easy to do once you get into the swing of it. I eat a lot at Subway now because they tell me how many calories are in their subs. How do you know how many calories to eat in a day? You start by reading a chart, choosing a caloric amount based on your current weight, and then refining that amount based on the results of the diet.

On The Hacker's Diet you weigh yourself everyday and record it, but don't worry too much about daily fluctuations. Instead you calculate the 20-day moving average of your weight and plot it on a graph, using the result to gauge how the diet is going. You don't have to do this by hand. An online program is provided that will calculate and graph the 20-day moving average for you.

Here's a look at my January chart. The red line is the moving average, and the little white diamonds are recorded weights. As you can see, I bottomed out at 178 lbs for a week or so. According to The Hacker's Diet this is normal as the body needs to pause once in a while to readjust itself. My goal weight is 169 pounds. I'm currently at 173 and hope to get there soon.

The Hacker's Diet notes that when you first start to reduce calories, it will feel awful for three days, then get better as the body shifts into fat-burning mode. That's exactly what happened to me.

It's important to exercise while losing weight so you don't lose muscle instead of fat. The Hacker's Diet provides a simple daily exercise regimen based on the Royal Canadian Air Force fitness program.

I encourage anyone who wants to lose weight to read The Hacker's Diet and try it out, but I must warn you of a potential downside: if you lose weight, you might have to buy new clothes!

Related Websites

The Hacker's Diet
How to Lose Weight and Hair Through Stress and Poor Nutrition

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